Thursday, August 25, 2011

Despite runny noses, a cough or two and a bit of fever now and then, the little guys still managed to keep us laughing for most of our Nana and Papa day with them. The kids had finally found a chair sized just for little guys. It is even a glider but oh my what a color thing does it have going on? lol. The boys love it and take turns crawling up into it and, as you can see, both have mastered the art of lounging. I see barcoloungers in their future and remote controls for sports tv.

Their favorite toys, besides the over sized lego blocks, are a race track and a popper. They know where the on/off buttons are and what switches make the sounds. They play quite nicely together with these and the logo blocks.

Probably because of their colds, but both boys would take breaks now and then from play and simply put their heads down for a minute or two then jump right back into the fun.

Their colds are not yet over enough for them to go to day care today so Chris took the day off to stay home with them. They are on their way over while he attends his Thurs. class at the university. He has some kind of arrangement with his work for release time on Thurs.

If I have any energy left after the boys leave this afternoon, I'm going to try to start some cleaning here in my work room so I can finish a few projects and get to work on the Alcohol Inks class I am co teaching with Britt at ACOT's next crop Oct. 13-15.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

We have been so busy this past week, I've forgotten to blog. Lots going on like

1. playing with Landon and Colvin (they now come to play at our house for a few hours every Tues. while their daddy goes to his university class. And, we now have our Nana/Papa day with them on Wed.

2. getting the house ready to be painted brand spanking new colors. We've gone with a medium teal for the main color with a lighter teal for the trim except in the back where the colors will be reversed inside the lanai.

4. visiting doctors (E) and dentist (me) and trying to squeeze in a hair apt.

5. making reservations for upcoming events like the Food and Wine Expo at Epcot with the Millers and thank you, Jacque, hotel reservations for the Krop for Kids coming up in St. Pete for her, Janet and me.

I promise to do better and will post more pics of the boys and of some of our adventures as soon as I can.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

In preparation for the boys' first day of day care school, E and I shifted our Nana/Papa day from Fridays to Wednesdays. And we attempted to follow the school's schedule as closely as we could. It was a bit rough on all of us but we did survive to play another day.

The boys had a bunch of fun with Papa's bucket hat. They would put it on themselves, each other and us. For the sake of tender eyes, I have only included the ones of the boys. I do NOT look remotely attractive in most hats and bucket hats are a big NO NO...but anything for the little guys' amusement, right?

The rest of the pictures are from last Sat when the boys came over to swim. They love the tin the LRC game came in (and this shot is for Clare...I am training them early, Auntie Clare Bear)!

Landon doing the 'hand jive', Nana's version. Colvin deep in play!

I just got off the phone with Little Mama who was worrying most of the day how her little guys were doing at day care school. The boys made it through the day with only one little problem and we all know it all will get easier day by day. Kristen and I have her room almost ready for school to start and I picked up the items at Posh to teach my class on Sat. Assembling the kits tomorrow and doing some much needed house cleaning.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

While I was waiting for a phone call from a friend, I passed the time scrapping today. When I started to attach things to the layout, my regular adhesive just wasn't hacking it. I won a bunch of product from Helmar Adhesives a few months ago and reached for the liquid Scrap Dots today...how did I ever scrap without these?

The butterflies stayed stuck, the lace went down like a dream, the ribbon at the top and bottom never moved with the Scrap Dots and let me tell you about the beads. These little devils are strung on something like fishing line and they twist and turn but the Scrap Dots grabbed them an held them tight.

I am a big believer in letting a company know when I really like a product or theirs &/or terrific service. I send an email to Helmar and got one back immediately. So, (smiling ear to ear here) check this out!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

And now about the deluge...enough already with the rain! This morning, we had rain, lightening, thunder and, for about a half hour, winds that had the palms blowing sideways along with the rain. Some of the roads are flooding and our yard is floating.

E wanted to go out and drain the pool this morning as it was within less than an inch of overflowing. I made him wait til the lightening strikes stopped.

I think I am mildewing!

And then there is this photo I took the other day...I can't wait to scrap it. I even have the title: "Papa kisses tickle". lol

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Yesterday afternoon, E and I parked our car at the Sponge Docks and caught the Jolly Trolley heading south. The trolley only runs as far as our town Friday through Sunday. The rest of the week it only goes from Clearwater to Clearwater Beach and on to Sand Key and back. For the whopping fee of 2.50 each (4.50 for younger people) E and I can hop on and off the trolley all day long.

We caught up with the Greens on our way to Palm Gazillion (could have sworn I had a pic of us from there but this is the only one on the camera from our adventure yesterday). We had a cold one at the Palm, and then waited and waited and waited in the heat for the trolley. Turns out we had just missed one but caught the next. Isn't this what memories are made of ?

Our next stop was Dunedin and Sea Sea Riders for some much needed fuel for our tummies...their food never fails us. We have not had anything but amazing food there ever.

Then is was on to Olde Palm Harbor and a stop at Peggy O'Neals. We walked from there to The Backyard where we listened to a cool musician and singer. We found out that Billy Jack's BBQ where we wiled away a couple of Sat.s listening to music had closed. Apparently the story is that the landlord was upping the rent and the owners of Billy Jack's said no. :( SAD...really liked that place.

The Greens caught the next trolley south and we sat on a bench across from Peggy O'Neals people watching until ours came along heading north about 30 min. later.

Briget and Ken, we had a blast with you. It was such fun to chat about the old days at Hazelwood Central and our kids and grandkids. We love you both! Thanks for letting us be such a part of your vacation this year. Hurry back!

Saturday, August 06, 2011

Bridgett and I sent the boys to Snookers and we took off to shop our way through Dunedin. Upon our return back to Tarpon Springs, we met them at Dimitri's on the River for cocktails and appetizers and headed across the street for dinner to Mykanos, our favorite place for authentic Greek food here.

Sorry about the missing bite here...I was starving...lol.

We had a night cap at our house before the Greens headed back to Clearwater Beach and the resort where they are staying. Just Jack, our orange cat, had a black snake cornered on the lanai..and E quickly dispatched it. I dreamed of (for Clare here)'Nakes off and on most of the night.

Today we are off to catch the Jolly Trolley down to Clearwater Beach and pick up the Greens. WE plan on town hopping our way back here...snacks, live music, farmer's market, lunch, adult beverages, a bit of shopping etc. Pics to follow later. Hope your Sat. is a delightful one!

Thursday, August 04, 2011

When I taught American Lit. to high school students, one of my favorite units to teach was the Transcendentalists, particularly Emerson and Thoreau. Henry David was such a rebel for his time and Waldon Pond always fascinated me. And Emerson was so wise...

This is one of my favorite quotes attributed to Emerson...a definition of success:

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please share your favorite quote from anyone with me here and many thanks.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

I met Jacque and Jean at Posh Scraps and all of us got a lot done. Jean is just back from an African safari trip to South Africa and, not only was her trip fascinating but her pictures are amazing. She got a good start on her Safari album and it will be stunning when she is done. Jacque is working on some Christmas gifts...she is always a planner. I'm not giving away secrets so you will just have to take my word for it...beautiful! And me? If I am not scrapping our little guys, you can bet I am working on scrapping one of our trips. I seem to be jumping around a bit but did get another two layouts done for the Med. Cruise album.

Villefanche's harbor and a view of our ship. We tendered into town and back which was fun in itself.

Then I skipped around a bit and did this one of one of the canals in Lucca, Italy.

We visited Lucca, a medieval walled city in Italy in the morning and Pisa in the afternoon. I loved this tiny town with it's meandering streets, its hidden places and the shopping...oh my, the shopping! We had cannolis in a street corner cafe and expressos while we waited out a brief rain shower. I loved this beautiful little town.

Thanks to those of you who check my blog...your views and comments are muchly appreciated.

Just when I thought I had finished the Barcelona part of our cruise, I discovered a bunch of un-scrapped pictures. Oh well, another time and since we ended in Barcelona as well as started our cruise there, those pages can go at the end of the album.

Meanwhile, I have scrapped us to our first stop which was Villefranche, France. Rather than take a trip to Nice or Monaco, we elected to stay the day in this beautiful little port city and explore.

I collected memorabilia from every stop and have tried to include things like maps and information from tour guides and the blurbs the ship provided on our stops. These help me remember what we did.

And, while I am still not scrapped out of Villefranche, I did have this photo of E and I in Pisa that I wanted to do. I had refused to do the usual "holding up the tower" pose so here we are and it does lean a lot...but most of the building at the site lean a bit themselves...or maybe it was us? lol

As always, thanks for looking.

My bike has a flat tire, so off when day light breaks to walk today. Then off to Posh Scraps to meet up with Jacque and Jean for some girl time and scrapping. Hope your Wed. is a good one.

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Pam B. informed me this morning that she was pouting until I posted some more pics of the little guys. They had us running in chase this last Sunday/Monday when we had the sleep over and I did not have the time or energy to snap a single pic of them. Pam said she would be happy with some from last week and the beach so here you go. NOW, no more pouting, missy! lol

This is the wagon E and I found for the boys at the resale shop near us and the rest are shots from the week at the beach.

This past weekend, Jacque and I headed south to the Marina Cove Resort to the Cheeky Chics Summer Lovin' crop. We met up with our roomie, Beth Reed. We unpacked in our room and headed into the crop room which was HUGE. Our room had a balcony over looking Tampa Bay and was perfect for the three of us.

I managed to do nine layouts in the weekend and still got in my half hour morning walks...talk about beautiful walking.

One of our favorite places at the resort was the TIKI BAR, of course. Mark mixed a mean frozen daiquiri and a nice strawberry one for Beth but no sangri for our Jacque . The food in all of the restaurants was amazing and the menus were varied enough for everyone. Even better, or just as good, the prices were reasonable so we never left the resort.

The crop itself was a blast. We met April, who is in our Kindred Spirits Creative Post Card exchange group and saw gals who we know from events at Posh Scraps and Whims and it is always fun to reconnect with old pals and make new ones.

And I can not say enough about my roomies...bestest! I've never laughed so hard!

Got home from the crop and the little guys came over for their first sleep over at Nana and Papas. Rob, Kristen and Chris were over for a cook out (we let them come play too...lol). We were so busy chasing the twins, I didn't even get a single picture. They are not just walking now, but take off at a break neck speed, full tilt, no holds barred. The sleep over went well for everyone but me...we had the baby monitor in our bedroom and I kept waking up to it thinking one of the boys was awake...I'm sure I'll get use to this and get more sleep next time.

And the fun keeps coming. Our friends, the Greens, arrive this Thurs and are staying down on Clearwater Beach. We have a date with them on Friday. While the guys hang out, I want to take Bridget to Dunedin and show her the lovely shops there...the stained glass shop where I get the darling scrabble pieces jewelery, the garden shop, my favorite interior decorating shop and, of course, the quilting store where I get all my ribbons and trims, Rainbow's End . Michelle, the owner, scraps at Posh and her shop is the very best!

Ken was the athletic director at the high school where E and I taught and where I coached cheer. Their daughter was actually on one of my cheer squads and they are grandparents (5 total I think ) to a set of twins too...girls a bit younger than our boys. It will be such fun to see them again.